Okay, okay, not so much hurt feelings but everything else is true! Putting something out on the App Store is rough. We've all heard the million and one success stories of developers quitting their day jobs to work full time on their App Store projects. But as the App Store matures the more and more I read complaints from developers from various blogs and forums. The issues range from the terrible communication Apple has with developers, questionable review policies, insanely competitive price wars, poor navigation on the store itself and the list goes on.
Charles Starrett over at iLounge has compiled a handful of responses from iPhone developers who are reportedly scaling back App Store development due to increasing concerns over long-term viability:
Second Gear developer Justin Williams, maker of the iPhone app FitnessTrack, has written a lengthy piece
describing some of the core problems currently facing iPhone
developers, most notably lack of feedback for developers and an
unsustainable pricing structure. Williams finishes the post by stating
that he is “seriously considering” selling off his two iPhone
properties and leaving iPhone development behind because he believes
the App Store “as it presently stands is not capable of providing a
reliable and consistent means of income.” A brief summarization of the
piece is available in the form of a Twitter update,
which reads, “Baseless app rejections, an unsustainable pricing
structure, piss-poor developer relations and a blackbox review system.
Where do I sign up?”
Ouch, that last Tweet must have all of Cupertino wincing just a little. Apple better shape up and make some changes quick if they're to keep this whole "momentum" thing they've got going last. Here's hoping the landscape sustains itself enough to keep the good times rolling for those of us with serious iPhone gaming habits.
Firemint's super mega 99¢ bestseller Flight Control has been rendered in stop motion animation form by MrCheeseStopMotion over at Youtube. The project shows the animator (via dry erase board and markers) turning on his "phone", sliding it open, putting in his password, searching for the game in spotlight, loading it up and then playing it. It's good clean fun and will likely a smile on your face. Take a look at what 4.5 hours with a video camera, dry erase board and a dream will get ya:
Owen Goss of Streaming Colour Studios, the studio behind Dapple ($1.99), has decided to video blog the entire process of developing an iPhone game from concept to completion. For more information on Streaming Colour Studios head on over to their official site or you can follow Owen via Twitter.
Aww, you know what's cute? Doing your first review! Blimp: The Flying Adventures was the first game I reviewed way, way, WAY back in the day. All the way on June 10th...2009. Hell, might as well be 1999! Am I right or what? Anyhow, I reviewed Blimp and I gave it a very positive score, an 'A' to be exact. I said such things like:
One of the biggest treats on top of the fantastic gameplay
is how beautifully executed and polished the presentation is. The
artwork appears to be all hand rendered and gives the title a unique
aesthetic chock full of detail. Everything from load screens, the HUD
and in game art are worthy of a rousing golfers clap for a job well done. With an introductory price tag of 99 cents
you'll be hard pressed finding a better looking game for only a buck.
Even though it's only 99¢ I'm sure there are plenty of you out there who still haven't played it and were holding out until you actually got your filthy paws on the thing, yeah? Well here's your chance, the lads at Craneballs Studios have made a demo version of the airship platformer for all to enjoy. Have fun!
Ever since we saw the first screenshots of Minigore (99¢) we were pretty intrigued. Between the art direction, gameplay and 99¢ price point Minigore looked to hit the proverbial sweet spot on all fronts. Weeks of anticipation, a few teaser videos, severalblog posts later and it's finally here. Minigore, the little shooter with the heart of gold has hit the App Store. I picked it up last night and have had a great time with it. The presentation, from the visuals to the music are fantastic and the gameplay is expectedly fun. I thought the game was a little on the easy side and didn't offer up much of a challenge, it took a quick second to switch it over to expert mode and after that I was a happy camper. For 99¢ it's absolutely worth the purchase.
